It Is Where We Are
by KingxLeon21
Summary: Freinds can be fleeting; Love's never receding; needing to be in the place of one's being; ever reaching but never seeing; that there's only one place where he wants to be. Rarely can there be found a love more pure than one born of innocence.


Hey guys, KL21 here again. This is a brand new one-shot. I wrote it in hopes of shaking off the cobwebs and blowing off the dust. I also wrote it in hopes of getting back to writing how I'm comfortable writing.

I will explain my inspiration after the fic. I don't want to take away from the magic, so to speak. I took some liberties with the history of the characters so don't be alarmed if they seem out of character, besides, the shows been over long enough that canon is irrelevant now anyway.

Without further ado I give you, my newest fic. Please do enjoy.

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It is where we are

A young boy of five years old stood up from his table as the other students left their seats abandoned. It was the only part of the day worth waking up for. The only time of the day where a boy can truly be himself…

Recess.

He wasn't bound by the restrictions of the teachers. He wasn't tethered to the expectations of his parents. He could be free.

He ran outside and looked around. Swings? Jungle gym? Sandbox? Slides?

There were so many possibilities. He continued to search and noticed that his friend wasn't outside. He walked to one of the windows and saw that his friend was still at her seat. She sat cross armed with a sour look on her face and a box of tissues on the table. He watched her blow her nose and fold her arms. He watched for a moment longer as she placed her head atop her folded arms.

He looked around at the playground one last time before heaving a sigh and going inside to his friend.

"Hi, Tori."

He was answered with a weary groan.

He continued, "Whatcha doin' in here?"

She lifted her head and through stuffy nose replied, "I'm sick." She sniffled but through her stuffy nose it sounded more like a snort, "You should go play, Andre. My mommy says I can get other people sick… besides, you'll miss recess."

He looked at her and sighed and walked away. The girl sighed again and put her head back on the table.

A few moments later she heard the chair across from her slide out. She picked up her head and saw her friend sitting in the seat. He was shuffling a deck of cards with a contemplative look on his face. Touched as the girl was, she still felt a little bad.

"If you stay in here, you're gonna miss recess."

The boy just shrugged, "Nobody should be alone during recess though." He smiles to himself more than her, "Besides, if you're in here, I'm not missing anything."

Andre Harris, now ten, was walking home. He was very excited because he had been invited to Billy Johannson's birthday party. Billy's parties were famous across the playground. For his ninth birthday there were clowns. His parents made a mistake and called two clowns and they ended up competing, and eventually fighting. However, being clowns, they didn't have any useful weapons and ended up using balloon swords. Their ridiculous display turned out to be a hit, as would be expected of an extravagant display of cartoon-y violence amongst nine year olds. They now perform children's parties all over the city as The Crazy Clown Pair. One of them suggested The Insane Clown Posse, but was informed that the name was already taken and that they weren't really a posse in the first place.

In any case, this party could prove to be just as good. The excited young boy took his lunch tray to the table to sit next to his friend.

She saw him coming and smiled. "Hey, Andre." She greeted.

"What's up?"

"You seem extra happy today."

"I just got invited to Billy's birthday party."

The girl was awestruck, "Whoa, really? Billy only invites the cool kids to his party." She began to list some of the cooler kids, "Nick Young, Paul George, Randy Epsom, Wilson..."

"And now you can add us to that list." He responded with a grin.

The girl's face fell, "I didn't get one."

The boy's optimism was not an optimism to be dampened, "It's still early, I'm sure you'll get one, later." The girl smiled and they both continued their lunch.

However, the girl did not get one. She was a bit disappointed but she didn't expect one anyway. She was in her room reading when she heard a knock to her door. "Come in!" She called.

Her mother poked her head through the door, "Honey, your little friend is here."

_Isn't Billy's party tonight? What's he doing here?_

She hopped down the stairs paying little heed to her mother's advisory to the contrary. Andre chuckled as she jumped the last three stairs and landed at the bottom.

"Hey, Tori." He said through laughter.

"Hey… what are you doing here? Billy's party is tonight."

"I know, I figured that we'd come and get you and we could go together."

Tori frowned, "That's nice Andre but, I wasn't invited."

Andre was shocked, "Really?"

Tori nodded, "Yeah, I guess I wasn't cool enough."

Andre stood in the girl's living room and thought for a second. After another few seconds, "I got it… ask your mom if you can come with me."

Tori gathered a look of confusion, "But… Andre…"

"Just trust me." With that, he ran out to his car.

She shrugged and ran upstairs.

When she returned, Andre was waiting on her couch, "My mom says I can go but I have to be back by 10 o'clock. I get an extra hour because it's the weekend."

"Awesome," he rose from the couch and started for the door, "C'mon let's go."

She happily followed them to his car where she greeted his grandmother. She wasn't expecting to go anywhere that night but she was excited nonetheless. She'd finally get to go to the cool kids' party. Aside from Andre, she didn't have too many friends. When the car stopped she looked out of the window and noticed that they were at Pete's Play Place. It was kind of like an amusement park, but with no roller coasters. There were: games, a Laser Tag Arena, Bumper Cars, a Go Cart track, batting cages, and many more fun things to do. She'd been so wrapped up in talking to Andre and Andre's grandmother; that she didn't notice where they were going.

Tori turned to Andre. "Is this where Billy's party is?"

He answered, "No, you didn't get an invite, remember?" He chuckled, "How were we gonna get in?'

Tori's face fell, "Awww, but mom said that some parties have something called a 'plus one' that lets people who weren't invited go to cool parties." Tori continued to pout.

Andre scrunched up his face, "But, why would you want to go to a party you weren't invited to?" Andre's grandmother looked in the rearview mirror at her grandson.

"Well I didn't really care but I didn't want you to miss it."

Andre shrugged, "It's just a party. I'm not missing anything."

"It was the _cool kids'_ party."

Andre shrugged again, "You're the coolest kid I know." Andre's grandmother smiled at her grandson's reflection, "So if you're here and not there, then that makes _this_ the cool kids' party."

Tori smiled as Andre grandmother turned to address them, "Alright now, children, let's head inside."

They followed Andre's grandmother inside and Tori gave Andre a peck on his cheek.

Andre wiped at his cheek, "What was that for."

"Well when my daddy does something nice for my mom she gives him a kiss. Most times it's on the lips but that's gross." They both shuddered, "anyways; you can think of it as a thank you."

Andre continued to rub his cheek.

"Look at her," the Vega patriarch whispered to his wife, "She's beautiful."

Tori's mother could only nod as tears began to fall and she was engulfed with a sense of pride. "That's my baby girl." She managed to utter.

It was graduation day. Tori had followed a dream and against what most called magnanimous odds; they'd seen her sister so the doubt was understandable, she'd graduated. Not only that, she excelled. An agent and a couple of producers saw her perform in numerous stage plays. She was approached early in her senior year; after the first stage play in September, about signing with an agent. She'd discussed it with her friends; they were elated, but skeptical. She discussed it with her parents; they were just as elated, though less notably so, and even more skeptical. The agent met with the Vega parents and was deemed to not be part of Hollywood's seedy underbelly.

The agent further proved his worth when he got her an audition for a small scale production. It was more than many could hope for when they'd been in the business for years. She'd hadn't even officially entered yet. She got so excited that she couldn't sleep, and when she finally got to sleep it wasn't exactly good sleep and when she woke up she threw up. She'd never been so excited.

Andre looked at his watch. The commencement ceremony was about to begin. He sent a message and put his phone in his pocket. He looked around his surroundings. He always knew he'd be here one day, but it always sneaks up on you. One minute you're top of the class, ruling the school, and the next thing you know; it's over. The next thing you know; life is coming at you. The next thing you know; you're in the real world and responsibility is pressing on you.

Still, as he looked around again, He was glad that he was here. He was happy about who he was there with… Because he was there with her. Of course others were there, but it was always her that made him the happiest.

"It's been a pretty exciting day, huh?" She asked him

He turned around and walked over to her, "Yeah… never a dull day in the life of Tori Vega." He smiled at her.

"I proudly present to you, the graduating class of 2017." The principle announced as the students rose to their feet. There was an applause that rivaled any they'd received from any production they've put on over the years. They threw their caps in the air despite being told not to do so during the graduation rehearsal… they'd already received their diplomas, what could the administration do to them now.

The gang made their way to the parking lot to meet their families. There were hugs, kisses, laughs, tears, pictures, hellos, and goodbyes. Beck feels his phone vibrate and is about to check it when he hears Jade call to him. He walks over to her and sees the others with her. He gets closer and witnesses the most somber joy he's ever seen on anyone's face. He understands, of course. For the past four years they've all been, more or less, joined at the collective hip. Now they will be going their separate ways. Some will stay in LA, some will go to NY. For a group that's been together for four years, a country's worth of separation may as well be the entire world. As they stood there and conversed, the mood dampened even more after realizing that this would be the last time they were all together for a long time. Beck remembered that he had a message and pulled out his phone.

Upon seeing the message, He smiled and showed the group. Their spirits immediately rose and they hurried to their cars.

While waiting for Jade to jump into the passenger seat, he looked at his phone again and laughed. He never would've believed it.

_From: Andre  
It's a boy!_

Tori sighed, "Are you mad?"

"Mad?"

"Yeah. Are you mad that we missed it?" Tori's father peaked over his newspaper.

"What are you talking about?" Andre asked as he walked over and gave her a hug and kissed the crown of her head, "We didn't miss it; this _is_ it." Tori's mother smiled from her seat by the hospital window.

She breathed out a laugh, "You know, you've been saying that since we were little." Trina scoffed and continued to file her nails. Tori made a face at her in response.

He smiled again, "It's been true since we were little."

"But what does it mean?"

"It means that when I'm with you, I'm not missing anything. I'm never missing it. This is it." Tori smiled,

Life would take him on a wild ride after today. He knew it. His father didn't have to tell him that, though he was appreciative that he did. The road he's on would twist and turn, wind, unwind and then rewind again. However, as he looked down at his beautiful girl holding his brand new baby boy, he knew that no matter where life would take him, he would always know the best place to be.

"_It_ is where we are."

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Well, there you have it. I do hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I pulled my inspiration for this fic from Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I often get inspired by those pseudo-artsy type movies… or sad songs. But I won't talk your ears off about that. Instead I'll leave you with this. I do hope to hear from you, but, if you decide not to review; thank you for taking the time to read.

Unitl next time  
Deuces  
KL21


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